Durham Regiom Transit Executive
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If this information is required in an accessible format, please contact 1-800-372-1102 ext. 3702 Transit Executive Committee Agenda Council Chambers Regional Headquarters Building 605 Rossland Road East, Whitby Wednesday, February 3, 2021 1:30 PM Please note: In an effort to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and to generally comply with the direction from the Government of Ontario whereby all organized public events of more than five people are prohibited, it is requested in the strongest terms that Members participate in the meeting electronically. Regional Headquarters is closed to the public, all members of the public may view the Committee meeting via live streaming, instead of attending the meeting in person. If you wish to register as a delegate regarding an agenda item, you may register in advance of the meeting by noon on the day prior to the meeting by emailing [email protected] and will be provided with the details to delegate electronically. 1. Roll Call 2. Declarations of Interest 3. Adoption of Minutes A) Durham Region Transit Executive Committee meeting – January 6, 2021 Pages 3-10 4. Delegations 5. Presentations A) Bill Holmes, General Manager, Durham Region Transit; and Nancy Taylor, Treasurer of Durham Region Transit, Finance Department, re: 2021 Durham Region Transit Business Plans and Budgets (2021-DRT-04) [Item 7.B] Handout 6. Correspondence 7. Reports A) General Manager’s Report – February 3, 2021 (2021-DRT-03) Pages 11-27 Durham Region Transit Executive Committee Agenda - Wednesday, February 3, 2021 Page 2 B) 2021 Durham Region Transit Business Plans and Budgets (2021-DRT-04) Pages 28-39 Link to the 2021 Durham Region Transit Business Plans and Budgets 8. Advisory Committee 8.1 Durham Region Transit Advisory Committee Minutes A) Transit Advisory Committee meeting – January 19, 2021 Pages 40-46 9. Confidential Matters There are no confidential matters to be considered 10. Other Business 11. Date of Next Meeting Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 1:30 PM 12. Adjournment Notice regarding collection, use and disclosure of personal information: Written information (either paper or electronic) that you send to Durham Regional Council or Committees, including home address, phone numbers and email addresses, will become part of the public record. This also includes oral submissions at meetings. If you have any questions about the collection of information, please contact the Regional Clerk/Director of Legislative Services If this information is required in an accessible format, please contact 1-800-372-1102 ext. 2097. The Regional Municipality of Durham MINUTES DURHAM REGION TRANSIT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Wednesday, January 6, 2021 A regular meeting of the Durham Region Transit Executive Committee was held on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 in the Council Chambers, Regional Headquarters Building, 605 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Ontario at 1:30 PM 1. Roll Call Present: Commissioner Collier, Chair Commissioner Barton, Vice-Chair Commissioner Anderson Commissioner Carter Commissioner Mulcahy Commissioner Pickles attended the meeting at 1:35 PM Commissioner Smith Regional Chair Henry * all members of Committee, except Regional Chair Henry, participated electronically Also Present: Commissioner Crawford Commissioner Wotten Staff Present: E. Baxter-Trahair, Chief Administrative Officer W. Holmes, General Manager, Durham Region Transit J. Austin, Deputy General Manager, Business Services, Durham Region Transit D. Beaton, Commissioner of Corporate Services B. Bridgeman, Commissioner of Planning & Economic Development J. Demanuele, Director of Business Services, Works Department D. Dunn, Project Manager, Transportation Design, Durham Region Transit S. Glover, Committee Clerk, Corporate Services – Legislative Service L. Hatch, Marketing Assistant, Durham Region Transit L.Huinink, Director, Rapid Transportation & Transit Oriented Development, Office of the Chief Administration Officer R. Jagannathan, Director of Transportation and Field Services A. McKinley, Deputy General Manager, Maintenance, Durham Region Transit A. Naeem, Solicitor, Corporate Services – Legal C. Norris, Deputy General Manager, Operations, Durham Region Transit J. Phelen, Planner, Service Design, Durham Region Transit 3 Transit Executive Committee - Minutes January 6, 2021 Page 2 of 8 T. Steffler, Supervisor, Transit Durham East, Durham Region Transit N. Taylor, Treasurer, Durham Region Transit, and Commissioner of Finance R. Inacio, Systems Support Specialist, Corporate Services – IT C. Tennisco, Committee Clerk, Corporate Services – Legislative Services 2. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest. 3. Adoption of Minutes Moved by Commissioner Anderson, Seconded by Commissioner Barton, (1) That the minutes of the regular Durham Region Transit Executive Committee meeting held on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, be adopted. CARRIED 4. Delegations 4.1 Emily Ames, Pickering resident; re: Necessary improvements to On Demand Service Emily Ames appeared before the Committee regarding challenges and suggested enhancements to the Durham Region Transit (DRT) On Demand services for families. E. Ames advised that her family, including her seven year old daughter, continue to regularly use DRT; however, the transition to the On Demand services has been a challenge for her family, particularly when travelling with her daughter. She explained that when DRT switched to the On Demand service with regular vehicles without booster seats, it made it less safe for her daughter as per recommendations of the Hospital for Sick Children and the Ministry of Transportation. E. Ames stated she has reached out to DRT’s Customer Service regarding how her family could access transit and make sure it was safe. She noted that in the beginning of On Demand, DRT had utilized the regular buses but later in the fall these vehicles were typically not available because they were often redeployed; and left them without a transit option in the morning. She also stated that the ‘same day’ On Demand booking service is a challenge particularly when you require a pick-up at the same time every day. E. Ames suggested that the staff look at enhancing the On-Demand service by providing an option for customers to request regular pick-ups, a week in advance and a week at a time, instead of just on the same day; creating a profile of its riders and requirements so that the booking agent knows when a rider is travelling with a young child with accessibility needs; and, enhancing safety by providing booster seats for any DRT service vehicle or contracted service vehicle equipped with seat belts. E. Ames stated that booster seats are a low-cost solution and 4 Transit Executive Committee - Minutes January 6, 2021 Page 3 of 8 raise a child up so the adult seat belts in the vehicles protect them better. She noted that to her knowledge Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act requires children weighing 18 kg to 36 kg (40 to 80 pounds), standing less than 145 cm (4 ft. 9 inches) tall, and under 8 years of age to use a booster seat. E. Ames responded to questions of the Committee. Discussion ensued on how a booster seat protects children when travelling in a DRT service vehicle equipped with adult seatbelts versus a conventional transit bus without seatbelts. Staff was asked to reach out to E. Ames with respect to the outcome of today’s discussions regarding the provision of booster seats on DRT service vehicles. [Further discussion ensued on this matter later in the meeting. See Item 10.2 on pages 7 and 8 of these minutes.] 5. Presentations 5.1 Bill Holmes, General Manager, Durham Region Transit; re: Paper Transfers Bill Holmes, General Manager, Durham Region Transit, provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding an update on Durham Region Transit issuance of paper transfers as requested by the Committee at the December 2, 2020 TEC meeting. A copy of the presentation was provided in the Agenda. Highlights of the presentation included: • Background • Transfers and Fare Payments ○ Paper Transfers ○ PRESTO Transfers ○ PRESTO contactless fare payment • Transit Executive Committee (TEC) reports and decisions ○ Report #2019-DRT-25: Durham Region Transit Fare Strategy, December 4, 2019 ○ Report #2020-DRT-11: Resumption of Fare Collection, June 3, 2020 ○ Report #2020-DRT-18: PRESTO Card Incentive, September 9, 2020 ● Status ● Recommendations B. Holmes provided an update on the mitigation measures implemented with respect to paper transfers at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of customers and employees and to ensure DRT could continue to operate; and, the Durham Region Health Department and the 2020 Ministry of Transportation guideline documents recommending a contactless fare payment to avoid the exchange of paper products such as cash and receipts. He noted that in July 2020 paper transfers and fare media were temporarily eliminated to mitigate the risks of the virus transmission. 5 Transit Executive Committee - Minutes January 6, 2021 Page 4 of 8 B. Holmes advised that currently customers paying with cash pay a fare on each bus; customers using PRESTO fare payment (card of e-ticket) pay $3.25 and the transfer is automatically applied to the card fortravel within a 2-hour period, regardless of the number buses boarded. B. Holmes explained PRESTO saves a customer $0.75 per trip, or $10.00 for every 14 bus trips. He outlined the options available to customers to purchase, load, and manage their PRESTO card. He also confirmed TEC’s decision to assist customers and provided free PRESTO cards